Almost
by Lament
Summary: This is a prequel to Wet Foot, Dry Foot. EricCalleigh.


Title: Almost

Disclaimer: Not mine. Grr.

Author's Notes: Every time I watch "Wet Foot, Dry Foot," I get the impression that something almost-but-not-quite happened between Eric and Calleigh prior to the start of the series. And with all the chatter about the episode on Talk CSI, I got inspired. This is my attempt to look at what might've happened between them. It takes place shortly after Eric started working at the lab.

* * *

Eric sat his glass of iced tea down on the counter and let out a breath. With a yawn, his eyes drifted to the microwave. 12: 03. Great. Well, at least he'd had an hour of sleep. With a good dose of caffeine, maybe he wouldn't get himself fired for dozing off on the job tomorrow. If he was lucky, he might be paired up with Speed tomorrow. Speed usually didn't wake up until around noon anyway, so he probably wouldn't notice Eric's drooping eyelids. It wasn't his fault anyway. How well was he expected to sleep on Calleigh's couch? Granted, though, she was doing Eric a favor by allowing him to crash here while his condo was being painted. 

Glancing over his shoulder, Eric narrowed his eyes at the noise coming from Calleigh's bedroom. He could hear drawers opening and closing, and he thought he heard Calleigh snap an obscenity, but he couldn't be sure from so far away. Eric bit his lip to stifle a laugh. The very thought of Calleigh cussing it up like a sailor amused him. She was a study in contrasts, that woman. A frustrating, enthralling, sweet-smelling study in contrasts. Eric wouldn't have been a bit surprised if he found a copy of _Guns and Ammo_ amidst all the ceramic teddy bears and floral arrangements.

Eric had only been working at the lab for a few weeks. In that time, he'd gotten to like the people he worked with. Horatio was a good teacher. True, he was a bit distant at times, but he seemed to genuinely care about people. And Speed. Eric hadn't known what to make of Speed at first. He was grouchy and cynical and brilliant. But behind the gruff, he was compassionate and witty. Only days after meeting him, Eric could sense that they'd be friends for a long time.

As for Calleigh, Calleigh was a different story altogether. She was beautiful and soft, and Eric couldn't stop thinking about her. Or dreaming about her, to be honest. Which is why he was up at something after midnight when he had to be at work the next morning. He'd had yet another dream about her. Ordinarily, he appreciated those dreams, welcomed them with open arms. After one of those dreams, Eric would let his fantasies take hold of him until he'd found a release he couldn't have in real life. But right now, he was here, in her inner sanctum, her home. He couldn't have lewd thoughts about her _here_, surrounded by pictures of her grandmother and lace-trimmed pillows and faux-tiffany lamps. And he certainly couldn't jack off in her off-white and beige bathroom with little seashells on the shower curtain. With a long, frustrated breath, Eric slumped against the counter.

* * *

Calleigh sat down on her bed in defeat, too restless to sleep, but too tired to be awake at this late hour. Insomnia was nothing new to her, though. It came with the job, and she'd gotten used to it. She never knew if she was going to be working over a few hours or pulling a double or coming home at her scheduled time. But Calleigh usually rolled with it. When all else failed, she'd curl herself up with a good book and read herself to sleep. Currently, she was in the middle of _Lady Chatterley's Lover_. She'd all but ignored the classics in high school, but now that she was older, she found that she appreciated them more. Unfortunately for Calleigh, the book was nowhere to be found. She supposed she could start a new one, but Calleigh was never the sort of person who could just stop in the middle of a book. No, she had to have _that _book. But that book wasn't on her bedside table where she thought she'd left it. She closed her eyes. That book was in the living room. With Eric. 

She'd only known Eric for a few weeks, and already, Calleigh found herself drawn to him. With Horatio and Speed, she felt a certain level of comfort. Horatio was warm yet professional. And Speed. Well, as attractive as he was in his own way, she felt more of a camaraderie with him. With both of them, Calleigh felt like she was in a situation she could control. She could find them both attractive, and she could even entertain the idea that they found her attractive. But with Eric, she felt heat, unbridled and beyond her control. And that scared her.

Eric seemed like the kind of guy who could awake a level of passion in someone that normally went unexpressed. He was the kind of guy to whom you surrendered, and Calleigh didn't relish the idea of surrendering to anyone.

Still, she'd invited him to stay with her. And, she'd put on her sheerest, most revealing nightgown, something she rarely wore unless she was expecting to spend the night with someone. It's not that she didn't have other, more modest clothes. No, if Calleigh was being honest with herself, she put it on…just in case. Internally, she chided herself for even entertaining the notion. There was no "just in case." Eric was a colleague.

And he was standing in the doorway to her bedroom.

"Eric," she squeaked, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to her chest. "You snuck up on me."

"I'm stealthy," he laughed.

"Decided to take a midnight walk, did you?"

Laughing awkwardly, he said, "Uh, sorry. I couldn't sleep, and I heard you rustling around in here. And your door was ajar." He nodded, as though trying to convince himself as well as Calleigh.

"Yeah," she drawled. "I should've warned you that I'm an insomniac."

Eric shifted the way he was standing, causing the light from the streetlamp outside to reveal an Eric clad in only thin pajama bottoms. Calleigh bit her lip. She just knew he'd have a fantastic chest.

Running his fingers though his hair, Eric said, "I just, uh, thought maybe you'd want to have a snack or something," I mean, we're both up."

Calleigh cleared her throat. "I picked up _Casablanca _at the store yesterday," she said. "Up for a movie?"

Eric chuckled. "Yeah. Got popcorn?"

"I certainly do," she said. "I'll grab my robe." Calleigh stood up, holding the pillow in place. Eric's eyes flitted across her body for a moment, and Calleigh felt an irrational blush well up in her cheeks. Then, Eric grinned, licked his lips, and looked to one side as Calleigh hurried to the closet and retrieved her robe.

* * *

Slumped comfortably on Calleigh's couch, Eric stretched his arms out, resisting the urge to touch Calleigh's shoulder with his fingertips. She was sitting inches away, Indian-style, with a thin blanket covering her legs. And she smelled so good…a mix of strawberry shampoo and body lotion and sleepiness. 

What had he been thinking, nudging open Calleigh's bedroom door like that? Still, she didn't seem to mind, and now, here they were, enjoying each other's company. Well, in any case, Eric was certainly enjoying it. But at the same time, it was almost brutal. She was so close, but still untouchable.

Calleigh pointed at the screen. "Humphrey Bogart wasn't conventionally handsome, but there was something about him, don't you think?"

Eric grinned. "Yeah, he was a first-class hottie."

Calleigh shot him a look, and then grinned, licking her lips. "Oh, okay. You're probably not checking him out. But really, he was brooding and mysterious." She shook her head and laughed. "I don't know."

Smiling, Eric let his gaze travel down Calleigh's body. She'd put on a robe before joining him out here, but it wasn't providing much in the way of protection. In fact, the robe was drooping on one side to reveal the creamy skin of her shoulder. And as thin as her nightgown was, she might as well not be wearing anything. Eric bit his lip at the thought.

Calleigh was lost concentration, tugging on her bottom lip as she watched the movie. Eric wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips, to feel them on his shoulder, his chest, his neck.

Wincing, he glanced down at his growing erection and wondered wildly if there was a way he could casually grab a throw pillow for cover. Of course, that never worked in high school. Everyone always knew what the pillow was for. He was so screwed.

Calleigh glanced at him, and he tried to wash the panic from his face. "Have you ever seen _Key Largo_?" She asked. That's a good one, too."

"Mm hm," he said, swallowing.

"_The Big Sleep _is good, also." She leaned forward and snatched up a handful of popcorn. "I just love old movies."

_And I could love you_, he thought.

Eric watched as Calleigh tossed the popcorn into her mouth. Even chewing, she was beautiful. After a minute, he noticed a piece of popcorn clinging to her top lip. How could he not notice? He was staring at her. In a spurt of bravery, he reached forward and swiped his thumb against Calleigh's lip. "You got a piece of popcorn stuck."

She blushed. "Oh, how embarrassing."

"No," he grinned. "It's cute."

She smirked at him, but didn't say anything. After a few seconds, she whispered "And it gives you an excuse to touch me."

Eric swallowed. He knew he would live to regret this, but that was enough of an opening for him. He laid his hand across Calleigh's cheek and kept stroking her lip with his thumb.

After a moment, she leaned into the touch and surprised him by darting out her tongue to lick his thumb.

Grinning, Eric scooted closer to Calleigh. Pushing her hair off her shoulder, he leaned forward and nuzzled Calleigh's neck. When she didn't stop him, he planted a delicate kiss on her cheek. Calleigh turned her head to meet his lips, and that was all it took. Every ounce of restraint Eric had was gone now. Letting out a breath, he let his fingers travel along the smooth skin of her shoulders and her back. Eric liked to touch. He liked to use his hands, discover the little quirks of a woman's body.

And she didn't do a thing to stop him.

_Finally_, his mind screamed. _Finally, finally_.

* * *

Calleigh pushed the blanket onto the floor and scooted closer to Eric—almost onto his lap. She raised her hands up and grasped his face. She wanted to hold him still so she could kiss him hard. Kiss? No, it was more like a breathless war of tongues. Eric was a deep and fiery kisser. Somehow, Calleigh knew he would be. 

This was wrong, and Calleigh knew it. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, where propriety and professionalism still had a voice, she knew it. Eric was a colleague, just as Horatio and Speed were colleagues. And Calleigh, she was a professional. What was she doing wrapped in the arms of her coworker? She should know better. She should never have offered to let Eric stay here. She should never have worn this nightgown. She should never have come out to watch a movie with Eric. And she certainly shouldn't be exploring the roof of Eric's mouth with her tongue. Yet here she was.

Recklessly, she ran her hands along the muscles in Eric's chest. Calleigh had discovered a long time ago that she had a thing for men with solid chests, and Eric had a good one, to be sure. Leaning down, Calleigh, kissed the skin by Eric's nipple. Reluctantly, she let go of his face and properly attacked his chest, alternating between kisses and licks.

After a few seconds, Eric pulled Calleigh's face up and planted a kiss on her lips. Then smirking, he licked Calleigh's bottom lip, slowly, sensuously. In spite of herself, Calleigh let something between a moan and a gasp escape her lips.

As Eric kissed her, Calleigh's mind mental faculties resurfaced, and her brain started to race. What would happen between them tomorrow at work? Was this a one-night stand? Did Eric want a relationship? How old was he again? Would Horatio and Speed know something had happened?

Abruptly, Calleigh pushed Eric back onto the couch. "We can't do this, Eric," she said breathlessly.

Looking more than slightly frazzled, Eric jolted upright. "What do you mean we can't do this?" His voice was about an octave higher than Calleigh was used to.

"Eric," she said patiently. "We work together." She nodded, as if that settled the matter completely.

"So?"

Calleigh picked the blanket off the floor and draped it around her shoulders. "So," she said. "It would compromise our integrity and the integrity of the team if we were to…become intimate."

Struggling for breath, Eric threw his hands up into the air. "You had you tongue down my throat, Calleigh," he choked. "We're already intimate."

"You know what I mean," she said. "Look, I don't blame you, Eric."

"You don't _blame _me?" Eric raised his eyebrows.

"No," she said. "I should've been a little more contentious." She stood up. "When we go into work tomorrow, we'll forget this happened."

"That's not likely," Eric said, shifting uncomfortably.

Calleigh tugged on her bottom lip. "Are you mad at me?"

Eric glared at her for a moment, but then smiled sheepishly. "No, I'm not mad."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he said. "How could I be mad at you?" He folded his arms across his chest. "You want me to stay at Speed's tomorrow?"

"No, of course not," she said. "Just…no more of your little nighttime visits."

Smiling sweetly, Calleigh turned toward her bedroom, leaving a frustrated puddle of goo that used to be Eric Delko crumpled up on the couch.


End file.
